What SEC football schedule means for the College Football Playoff
The SEC endured criticism after sticking with an eight-game conference schedule for 2024, even after the conference grows to 16 teams. Other conferences like the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine conference games.
Dissent from the peanut gallery can be ignored, but blowback from the College Football Playoff selection committee would be a stinging rebuke with real consequences.
The CFP will expand to 12 teams in 2024, and the playoff selection committee will determine six at-large bids. While it’s not apparent exactly how much strength of schedule will factor into those debates, the SEC would seem to be leaving itself vulnerable to rejection in instances of similar resumes, because its members will play one fewer conference game than many Power Five peers.
On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss why the SEC decided to stick with an eight-game conference schedule and the ramifications of that decision.
Rivalries can be preserved in 2024. That’s a silver lining to this decision. If the SEC remains at eight conference games beyond 2024, though, certain rivalries would be in jeopardy of interruption.
TOPPMEYER:After SEC kicks the can on football schedule, ESPN and CFP gain control
ADAMS:What I'll miss most after SEC football scraps divisions
Some school administrators within the SEC were reluctant to add an additional conference game without ESPN kicking in more money. But, what if ESPN continues to keep its wallet shut in what amounts to a game of chicken with the SEC? Who will cave first?
If the CFP selection shuts out a third- or fourth-place SEC team on the grounds of its strength of schedule and selects a comparable Big Ten team, that could tip the scales toward adding a ninth conference game, regardless of ESPN's move.
If the SEC sticks with eight conference games for the long term, games like Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia would be among the sacrifices. While those games can be preserved for 2024, the removal of divisions and the 1-7 schedule format would interrupt secondary rivalries if the eight-game schedule persists.
Later in the episode
– An update on the Big 12’s latest expansion efforts and a debate on whether Colorado should rejoin its old conference.
– The SEC’s most prominent athlete in 2023-24 might not be a football player. Toppmeyer lays out the case for a woman being the conference's most visible athlete after the departures of quarterbacks like Bryce Young and Stetson Bennett IV.
Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. John Adams is the columnist for the Tennessean. You can subscribe to their podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.